Real Estate Junkies
Hacienda Revival
Welcome to this imaginary home renovation project - in part 1 we will focus on the exterior of the property.
I came across this house on Idealista in Portugal and fell in love with the idea of a virtual renovation, hence I selected it for my first fantasy project. What I love about this house is the romantic hacienda vibe it hints at from the very first impression. I also adore the mystery and cool shade of a beautiful plant covered walkway leading up to the house.
Clearly neglected and old, I can’t help but want to tinker with it and restore it to its former glory days. This house and its grounds seem ripe for some creative imagining!
First impressions upon this project were that there is 1) too much hardscaping and 2) a need for elegant outdoor seating. We will get to the interior later in this article.
HACIENDA YABUCU - MEXICO
My initial inspiration came from a hotel in Seyes, Mexico called Hacienda Yabucu. What a gracious and stunning hacienda this hotel is and the elegant casual environment is exactly the vibe I think the house could easily adopt.
Starting with the front yard that currently feels so barren, hard and unwelcoming, I would want to soften it with greenery and foliage but particularly using water-wise landscaping, much as they have done in the Mexico example above.
I would use the stunning arches to frame particular views. For example, the single tree in centre stage, I would dig up the hardscaping around it in a circular bed, and plant greenery or even flowers to surround it, because the shade will enable that, the tree will benefit from the other plant-life adjacent to it and the large rectangular courtyard in this view will be foreshortened and softened because visually it is cut up more. The impact will already be a cooler softer courtyard and we aren’t done yet.
Another beautiful example of the framing effect of the arches is illustrated here and again, I think we can use some of this cooling and softening ambience that is created with some strategic plant life.
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Many of the plants in these gorgeous views appear to be in planters and yet the overall effect is tropical paradise!
For the patio seating area, I would expand the outdoor living room effect by removing the cinder block wall and incorporating some of courtyard into a larger informal outdoor seating area.
I would keep the characterful tiled benches both here and elsewhere in the courtyard. There is already luxuriant greenery which would be complemented by some additional palms in planters as well.
Removing the metal bars on the windows and the free-standing furniture and replacing it with some contemporary all-weather outdoor furniture and even a fire pit as per the inspiration below, would greatly add to the outdoor ambience.
Moving on to the rest of the courtyard, I would opt for two matching fountains filled with succulents to create a focal point.
One fountain would be placed in the main courtyard in the middle of the dead space and the other would be located in the dry pond. I would not fill these fountains with water for the same reason as I wouldn’t fill the pond – it’s wasteful when water is such a scarce resource plus its hard work to keep clean and blue.
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However the fountains would create a spectacle by themselves and, filled to the brim with vibrant succulents, would be absolutely stunning and need very little maintenance
With the one fountain filling the old pond with life, colour and interest, the second fountain would provide a colourful focal point in the center of the large open courtyard adjacent to the second tiled bench. It would be a beautifully framed view out from the patio thanks to the gorgeous arches and again, would provide visual interest, cooling effect and symmetry to the courtyard, whilst providing low maintenance plant-life to attract insects and birds.
And its now, that we start to see the limitless potential for romantic, gorgeous living spaces from this other source of inspiration, with strategically placed planters and lighting.
None of it needs to be water intensive plants as there are many types of succulents or hardier plants that will do very well.
For lighting options, there are solar lamps and given the climate in Portugal with its 300+ days of sunshine per year, solar is absolutely the way to go, plus we don’t need an electrician to wire it for us!
https://mexico-stay.com/en/o/hacienda-yabucu,3r2op.html